In my view Google launched the Nexus One on the following counts :
· Technology demonstrator so as to highlight the possibilities with the platform given the right hardware with the objective of gaining on the traction Android is starting to gain so as to broaden the ecosystem
· Explore the extent to which they can challenge the current Operator Biz Model -
o To evaluate the viability of an alternate sales channel (the Online sales channel) in operator controlled markets and gauge the traction they can gain via the same – Keep in mind Google has also offered to retail other manufacturer Android phones via their portal with Motorola being the first vendor agreeing to offer their [products via the same
o Explore the boundaries and traction they can gain with VoIP (and relegate operators to pipes) given that Google Voice is tightly integrated with Android in the Nexus One and in effect a user can also assign a VoIP number to his mobile phone (02 purchase of leading VoIP player Jajah recently is the beginning of this acknowledgement and an endeavor to blunt the impact)
o Evaluate possibilities of reverse bundling wherein operators tie-up with Google to offer a data bundle with the unlocked handset
Audacious to say the least given the fact that even Apple (this is debatable given that Apple gets an incentive on each activation and a portion of the data revenues from AT&T) and RIM have succumbed to the pressure of operators in the US and other operator controlled markets.
Jury still very much out on whether Google will succeed in this endeavour and the first week of sales don’t look encouraging !
All the 'will they? won't they?' excitement over the launch of the Google's Nexus One Android smartphone has only resulted in sales of 20,000 units in the first week in the US, according to industry estimates.
As we've pointed out before, US phone launches are now followed as if they were movies. Observers are apt to talk about first weekend sales and on this basis the Nexus One has apparently turned out to be an art house movie rather than a blockbuster.The figures comes from Flurry which says it monitors usage of more than 10,000 developers' applications on iPhone and Android platforms. It claims to track the apps on 80 per cent of the iPhone and Android handsets in the market, and it says that its dashboards show that the Nexus One has had a lack-luster first few days in comparison with the surges of activity it tends to get from other phone launches, such as theiPhone 3GS.
On that comparitive basis it reckons that Google has sold about 20,000 handsets from its web site, which is not only far less than the usual sales records these days, but also lower than competing Android-based handsets.
Direct comparison, as Flurry points out, is difficult since Google has done no marketing and promotion, is making the Nexus available in the US only, and has (as yet) no shop-front sales via carrier partners. And, one might add that a web-site sales process inevitably slows the sale-to-unboxing cycle since the user has to wait a few days for delivery.
There are also reports that Google is not making a great fist of the retail process with potential users finding it difficult to make a purchase and then get support, even if they are keen to pony up the over US$500 price tag.
In fact the whole Google Nexus One launch episode is strange. The question: 'why launch a phone when up to now the company has always said that it wasn't in the phone business' is still unanswered. It appears that Google isn't quite sure itself: probably the real answer is something to do with momentum. Google likely reached a stage where it was easier to launch a phone of its own for a variety of small reasons - searching for a big reason is therefore fruitless as there isn't one.
There is undoubtedly a lot to be learnt internally by launching a Google phone - Google has, after all, put mobile Internet right at the core of its strategy and putting its own skin in the Android game is probably useful on many levels. And of course Google still has many options in terms of retail strategies, applications and tie-ins. The Nexus One is likely to be a slow burn.
But there has been good news too for Google on the Android front: South Korea's SK Telecom has made the sort of announcement Google executives no doubt dream about. Korea's largest mobile carrier, stung by its competitor's iPhone sales has just announced the launch of 15 new smartphones - up to 13 of these models will be Android.
Ha Sung-min, president of SK Telecom's mobile network operator unit, said in a press conference in Seoul last week: "We will have 25 smartphone line-ups in 2013, or 40 percent of our total handset offerings, mostly equipped with the Google OS."
In fact the whole Google Nexus One launch episode is strange. The question: 'why launch a phone when up to now the company has always said that it wasn't in the phone business' is still unanswered. It appears that Google isn't quite sure itself: probably the real answer is something to do with momentum. Google likely reached a stage where it was easier to launch a phone of its own for a variety of small reasons - searching for a big reason is therefore fruitless as there isn't one.
There is undoubtedly a lot to be learnt internally by launching a Google phone - Google has, after all, put mobile Internet right at the core of its strategy and putting its own skin in the Android game is probably useful on many levels. And of course Google still has many options in terms of retail strategies, applications and tie-ins. The Nexus One is likely to be a slow burn.
But there has been good news too for Google on the Android front: South Korea's SK Telecom has made the sort of announcement Google executives no doubt dream about. Korea's largest mobile carrier, stung by its competitor's iPhone sales has just announced the launch of 15 new smartphones - up to 13 of these models will be Android.
Ha Sung-min, president of SK Telecom's mobile network operator unit, said in a press conference in Seoul last week: "We will have 25 smartphone line-ups in 2013, or 40 percent of our total handset offerings, mostly equipped with the Google OS."
Regards,
Navdeep
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